


absentee

by paopuleaf



Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Gen, HLVRAIHEV, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, mostly mari-centric with a side of tommy, very lightly implied frenmy but like. VERY LIGHTLY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:07:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24461782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paopuleaf/pseuds/paopuleaf
Summary: Mari stares at the last message she sent to Gordon -are you there? are you okay?- and waits, as if the check and the ‘read’ will show up from pure will. It’s been a week. A whole week of no contact, no texts, no calls, nothing. Juliet gently tugs her phone away from across the table, offering a reassuring grin. (It’s weak. She’s not immune to the concern, either.)-Gordon Freeman goes missing. Mari worries (and for good reason, she finds out.)
Relationships: Benrey & Gordon Freeman, Gordon Freeman & HEV, Tommy Coolatta & Gordon Freeman
Comments: 5
Kudos: 118





	absentee

Mari stares at the last message she sent to Gordon - _are you there? are you okay?_ \- and waits, as if the check and the ‘read’ will show up from pure will. It’s been a _week._ A whole week of no contact, no texts, no calls, nothing. Juliet gently tugs her phone away from across the table, offering a reassuring grin. (It’s weak. She’s not immune to the concern, either.)

“He’s alright, babe. I’ll take care of Joshie tonight, if you wanna go check his house?”

“That’s- that’s really smart, Julie, damn,” Mari says, because she hadn’t even thought about that. “Can’t believe you stole my braincell tonight.”

“Nah, found this one on the Wal-Mart floor.” 

They both laugh, and Joshie climbs up into his seat to eat his lunch. It’s almost enough to make Mari forget her fears. Almost.

They all come back in full force as she stares at the darkened windows of Gordon’s home.  
  


“He might just be asleep early. Black Mesa’s a bitch,” she mumbles, digging around in one of the flowerpots until her fingers close around the spare keys. “Told him he should quit.” The door swings open with that same creak it’s had for _years,_ loud enough to wake up Gordon if he was passed out on the couch, ever the light sleeper.

There’s nothing. _He might just be in the bedroom._ It’s getting harder to convince herself. Mari nudges open the door with her foot. The room is empty. The house is empty.

Gordon is gone. 

His phone is plugged in by his bedside, because _right,_ Black Mesa never liked the employees having them on them. Another point in favour of quitting, she thinks, but it’s clearly too late now. He never came home from work. Was he dead? _No. He can’t be._

Mari goes home, tells Joshua that his dad’s caught up in work and won’t be home for another week. Curls up with Juliet on the couch when it’s late, rambles out all her fears until she just feels empty. He has to be fine. He _has_ to be.

-

She gets a call, a week later. It’s HEV’s voice- Gordon’s AI, the one that spoke for him sometimes, Mari remembers, except this time she sounds _real,_ and very, very panicked. “I’m sorry to bother you, Mari, but Gordon’s freaking the fuck out and he really needs to know if Joshua’s okay, like, now-”

“Joshua-” Mari stumbles, because this is so much, all at once, but- “Joshua’s fine, he’s with me n’ Julie and he’s been wonderful- is Gordon _okay_?”

“It would be- _app_ **re** _ciated_ if you came over,” HEV says in lieu of an actual response, voice glitching halfway though. Mari’s already sliding on her shoes, snatching up her purse as she rushes out the door. Juliet can handle Joshua, _she_ has to go handle her stupid fucking ex who apparently can’t stay safe for two minutes-

She climbs onto their motorcycle and shoves on the helmet, and then she’s off, probably breaking a few speed limits. Who _cares._ Gordon’s house is in sight soon enough, and then she’s parked and-

Gordon opens the door before she gets the chance, still wearing the HEV suit, covered in grime and blood and god knows what. He waves with his left hand, because his- his right hand is just _gone._ “Hey, Mari,” comes the familiar, slightly robotic voice, but it’s glitchy and slurred together. Mari’s urge to punch something is shoved aside in favour of immediately rushing forward to support him, catching glimpses of… some kind of chaos behind him. 

“What the fuck happened to you, Gordon?”

“Shit’s… fucked,” he says, and that’s incredibly helpful, thank you. 

“HEV?”

All that comes from the AI is a glitchy boot-up noise, and Mari sighs, ushering Gordon inside and kicking the door closed behind them. There’s unfamiliar people in the living room- two of them are wrestling, one is lying on the couch with their feet kicked up on the table, and another is playing with an absolutely huge golden retriever in the kitchen. “Oh, Mr. Freeman- oh, you’re new! Are you here to help?”

“Yeah, I- I am. Could you go in the bathroom and grab the green box under the sink? Kinda hard to miss. I’m taking him into the bedroom so I can get this stupid fucking suit off-” Mari pauses. “Sorry, HEV, no offense.”

“ **N** _o_ **ne** ta _k_ \- taken,” HEV responds. “Curren **t di** _ag_ no _stic:_ **HE** _V_ sui _t_ hind **eri** **_ng-_ **health.” Yeah, that's probably true.

“Yeah, miss, I can do that! My name’s Tommy-” And then he’s off, the dog trailing behind him as he rushes into the bathroom. Nobody else seems remotely alarmed, so Mari drags Gordon into the bedroom herself and sets him down on the bed, already beginning to unlatch the HEV suit’s exterior. It’s filthy, and she’s gonna need to deep-clean her hands later, but that’s- that’s the _least_ of her concerns.

Tommy comes back into the room with the box, setting it down, and silently begins to unlatch the other side. “Thanks. My name’s Mari, I’m Gordon’s… friend. Ex. Whatever.” She shrugs and pulls the chest piece off as Tommy pulls on the other side, the entire HEV suit falling to pieces once the main part was displaced. 

“ **I’m-** **_sys_ ** _tem_ **_re_ ** **boot** _needed_ . Sle **ep** mo _de activating._ ” HEV falls silent, and Gordon reaches out weakly, fingers brushing against the metal in an attempt to grasp onto it. His breathing picks up when she doesn’t respond, and Tommy gently tugs his hand away. 

“It’s okay, Mr. Freeman. She’ll be back soon.” 

Mari peels off the ripped remains of Gordon’s shirt, not spotting any obvious injuries - HEV did her job well (besides the arm, something in Mari’s mind screams, but that wasn’t her fault.) “Tommy, could you- could you keep him calm while I take care of his arm?” 

“I can do that! Sunkist, make sure nobody comes in, okay?” The golden retriever boofs, and Tommy grins, before undoing Gordon’s ponytail and grabbing a few wipes. Mari watches him for a moment, the way his motions are so, so careful, before she shakes it off and grabs wipes of her own. 

“This is gonna hurt, but I gotta do it, so just- be careful, ‘kay?”

Gordon shoots her a weak thumbs up, and Mari begins to disinfect the area around the wound. It’s not quick, but she has it clean and bandaged soon enough- a _hospital_ would be good, but this can handle it for now. She begins to check for other injuries, but doesn’t find anything besides deep bruising and the very real possibility of broken bones. Fun.

He lifts his arm and signs ‘thank you’ before slumping back against Tommy, eyes closed. Out like a light. “He can take a shower after he’s rested- thank you for your help, Tommy.” Mari sighs, slumping against the wall. “How long has- can- even a vague explanation of what happened would be… nice.” 

“I can do that!” Tommy’s voice is quiet as he shifts, lying Gordon’s head in his lap and pulling a blanket over him. “There was a really important test, and, uh, it- it didn’t go so well. We all got stuck in Black Mesa, and the military was trying to- trying to hunt us down, and Gordon’s... “ He trails off, glancing behind her to the door before shaking his head. “His arm got- got cut off. But we escaped and it’s okay! Benrey might be able to help later. They’re the one with the helmet, n’ the security vest.”

“Who are the two that were wrestling, earlier?”

“That’s Bubby- the one with the glasses, n’ the crime- and Dr. Coomer! They’ll calm down soon.” 

Mari snorts at that, before stretching. “I’ve got to go tell Juliet what happened, and make sure everyone’s okay. I kinda left the apartment without telling anyone.” _I’m glad I did._ “Tell HEV to call me when Gordon’s awake, ‘kay? Or you can, if you want. My number’s on the fridge, the blue marker.”

“Will do, Ms. Mari!”

“That makes me sound _old,_ gross. Just Mari’s fine.”

Tommy nods, before looking down at Gordon, attention clearly focused elsewhere. She grins- Gordon has more people who care about him now, that's nice- before walking out of the room, past the chaos in the living room. As she’s about to leave, the guard- Benrey- speaks up, an odd mist rising from their lips. “Uh, is Feetman like, okay?”

“He’s gonna be fine,” Mari reassures. “Tommy’s in there with him right now, n’, uh, he probably wouldn’t mind if you went and checked.”

“Huh?”

She leaves them with that as she heads out, getting back on the motorcycle. Gordon’s alive. 

_Knew it._

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this as a warmup ! i really really love mari n hev (n juliet) so writing a story about them was :]  
> when i write a full hlvraihev fic there Will be frenmy, i think, because i am a weak fuckign gay and all my friends go pspsppsppsp frenmy time and i RUN 
> 
> you can find me as always on my twitter [@[mxcatboy](https://www.twitter.com/mxcatboy)] or on my tumblr [@[rylron](https://rylron.tumblr.com)] ! alternatively, you can yell at me in the hlvrai hellhole discord server [here](https://discord.gg/feaYrWa)


End file.
